


Happiest Memory

by good_eviening



Series: Harry Potter Characters/Reader One-Shots [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Cross-Posted on Quotev, Draco Malfoy is a Bully, F/M, Harry helps Reader get happy, Harry helps Reader with her spells, Harry is actually smart for once, Like who trashes other people's friends, Patronus, Ravenclaw Reader, Reader will get more friends, Reader's only friends are books, a bully - Freeform, and is a bit less cringe tbh, good job Harry, that's who, this isn't connected to the first one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 18:59:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18946921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/good_eviening/pseuds/good_eviening
Summary: "She's too smart for you, mate.""I know, but I can't help it."Harry Potter stood with Ron in the corridor outside of the Great Hall as students ran left and right about the hallway."She'd probably be like Hermione, anyway. I don't think you'd be able to handle a girl like that."





	Happiest Memory

**Author's Note:**

> So this is less cringe than the first one was tbh.
> 
> Not requested by anyone

"She's too smart for you, mate."

"I know, but I can't help it."

Harry Potter stood with Ron in the corridor outside of the Great Hall as students ran left and right about the hallway.

"She'd probably be like Hermione, anyways. I don't think you'd be able to handle a girl like that."

"Who's probably like me?" Their bushy-haired friend asked, popping up next Ron.

The ginger pointed a single finger at the other girl in question. A girl, the same age as them, walking past with books tucked in her arms, was at the receiving end. The blue emblem on her robes showed her to be a Ravenclaw, though it was hard to see behind the mountain of different texts. Her (h/l) (h/c) locks bounced against her (s/c) face as she moved down the corridor and out into the courtyard.

"(Y/n)?" Hermione asked for confirmation.

"Yep," Ron nodded.

They both glanced at Harry, whose eyes were still trailing the Ravenclaw girl as she went along her way. When he realized his two best friends were staring at him with grins evident on their faces, his cheeks flushed red and he looked away from the girl to look at his annoying friends instead. However, it was clear that he wasn't fully focused on them, as his gaze continually flicked back to the girl's retreating figure.

"Harry?" 

At the sound of his name, Harry finally turned to look at Hermione, focusing his attention on her for a moment.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Do you like (Y/n)?"

Harry's eyes moved once more to look in the direction of the girl in question, but she had already crossed the courtyard and gone across the bridge, out of sight.

Harry sighed in defeat and turned to his friend. "Yes."

Ron clapped Harry on the back roughly, exclaiming, "Thank you!" He turned to Hermione. "I've been trying to get him to tell you for weeks!"

Hermione looked at Ron incredulously, "You knew?"

Ron laughed. "I may be clueless about some things, but I am pretty observant about others."

Hermione snorted before turning her attention back to Harry. 

"How long have you liked her, Harry?" She asked the sixth year.

He flushed an even brighter shade.

"I first noticed her in fifth year," he began.

"How did you first notice her?" Hermione asked, siting down on a nearby bench.

"Malfoy was talking about he had found this awesome new spell in the library, written on a piece of paper inside one of the books. He was saying that it can make you turn a person whatever color you wanted. His friends asked what the spell name was and he recited it off, I can't remember what it was. They were really excited and told him to try it out on someone, so he pointed it at a random student walking by, and was about to cast it when she walked by and told him it wasn't a good idea. He laughed at her and asked her why he would listen to her. She just said she was warning her, and that the spell wouldn't go the way he wanted. He laughed again and cast the spell, and there was a loud pop and suddenly his hair disappeared. He freaked out and then demanded how she knew the spell wouldn't work after she laughed and said 'I told you so.' After he asked he the question, she began walking away, but said as she left, 'Because I invented it.'" I couldn't take my eyes off her after that.

Hermione laughed. "I remember that! (Y/n) was telling me about it!"

Ron was roaring with laughter, meanwhile, at the memory. 

Once they had both calmed down, Hermione asked, "When did you really start falling for her Harry?"

Harry sighed. "It was after my thing with Cho ended. (Y/n) juts started becoming more prominent in my mind. I didn't know why, but I kept thinking about her. I started realizing how smart she was, how pretty she was, how friendly she was, how funny she was, just everything about her became so clear to me all of a sudden and at the beginning of this year when I saw her again and felt really strangely happy, I talked to Ron about it and we realized that I had a massive crush on her." His blush was even more prominent than before, covering his cheeks in red.

"Goodness, he's fallen hard," Hermione chuckled, locking eyes with Ron for a second. The ginger smirked and nodded. Harry's cheeks flared up even more at his friend's comment. 

"When are you gonna tell her, mate?" Ron probed, elbowing Harry in the side.

"I don't know, soon maybe?"

"Come on, just go up and tell her! Easy!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ron, I don't think you'd understand because you just jumped right in with Lavender, but when you've been in love with someone for a while, you have to wait for the right moment." Hermione turned back to stare Harry in the eyes as she continued, "When the moment comes, you'll know it. Just be patient, It'll come, I promise."

Harry nodded and sighed, leaning against the wall as he stared off into the distance.

"Come on, Ron, let's go. I think Harry needs some time to think, and I'm guessing you're hungry by now," Hermione stated, grabbing Ron by the arm and pulling him along with her, away into the Great Hall, leaving Harry alone.

Harry stood there for a few more moments before suddenly having the strange urge to go out to the grounds. He didn't know why, his heart was just pushing him that way, and he felt he had to follow. 

Harry walked across the courtyard and off onto the bridge, looking around to see students dotting the grounds around the lake. He scanned the people that stood there until his eyes finally settled on a small figure sitting alone under a tree, surrounded by a mountain of books. The (h/l) (h/c) hair told him exactly who it was, and he was suddenly a lot happier than before. He quickly made it across the bridge, and turned towards the tree he had seen, but as he went, his eyes settled on another person approaching the same place he was. Or rather, people.

Draco Malfoy went up to the tree followed by Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, and Pansy. Harry finally made it to the tree, but could hear the Slytherins talking to the girl on the other side, so he stayed silent and listened.

"Hello there, (L/n).

Harry could almost see her bored eyes as she spoke, "Hello Malfoy. Lovely to see you today. Enjoying the weather."

Malfoy chuckled. "Trying to put off the inevitable, (L/n)?"

"No, I'm trying to make pleasant conversation with my fellow classmates," she explained, a smirk playing in her voice.

"Of course you are. I seriously doubt that, though. You know what I'm here for," Malfoy spat. 

"I know what you're here for, and I'm here to tell youth I honestly don't care. I'm reading, and I would really appreciate it if you went away now," she replied. Malfoy scowled.

"All you do is read, (L/n). No wonder you don't have any friends except for your books. But, you know, if they could think for themselves, they probably wouldn't want to hang out with you either," Malfoy chuckled.

She didn't respond to this. Malfoy wasn't very happy about her reaction, as Harry heard him step forward suddenly, and then she suddenly cried out, "No, wait! Don't, please! I need them!" Malfoy laughed, ignoring her pleas. Harry peaked around the tree to see Malfoy holding her books and walking towards the lake as Crabbe and Goyle held her back. She was screaming, but there were no other students around as they had all left as soon as Malfoy showed up. The Slytherins ignored her as she begged and pleaded with Malfoy. He didn't care, though, and in the next second, all of her books were in the water, their pages becoming soaked as they sank to the bottom of the lake.

Just before the texts were out of sight, though, Harry whipped out his wand and pointed it at them, swishing and flicking as he whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa!" He held the books under the water until the Slytherins had released her and headed back up to the castle.

Harry was still; behind the tree when he heard a sound that he had never heard before from her.

Crying. 

He stepped out from his hiding spot to see her curled up against the tree, sobbing, her face in her hands. She was so absorbed in her grieving that she didn't notice Harry. She didn't notice as he went to the lake and pulled her books up, with the charm, out of the water. He made his way over to him, using his wand to pull the water out of the pages as he held them in his arms. He finally made it in front of her with all of her books in hand, completely dry. 

"Hey, would you like these back?"

She suddenly took notice of him and looked up. And for the first time, Harry was staring directly into the sparkling (e/c) eyes of his crush (Y/n) (L/n).

"M-My books," she stammered. "They're okay! How did you-"

"I was behind the tree. I used a Levitation Charm while I could still see them, and just waited to take them out until after the Slytherins left." Harry sat next to her, handing her books back. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, these are just some of my favorite books, and the others I picked up to read for fun. They're just really important to me. Thank you, so much."

Harry looked at the texts, seeing some titles of the most advanced quality and others with words he couldn't even pronounce. He turned to her. "Hey, you're in all the NEWT classes, right?" She turned to him and nodded. "Would you be able to help me study at some point, I've been having trouble with a few of them."

"Of course," she nodded. "It's the least I could do to repay you for helping me." She gathered her books in her hands and stood up, Harry joining her. "I'm free at three for a few hours, would you like to start then?"

Harry nodded. "That'd be great."

"Okay, I'll see you in the library then," she confirmed.

"Yep."

"Well, see you later Harry," she began to walk the opposite direction. 

"Wait, where are you going? The entrance is this way!" Harry called after her.

"Shortcut," she responded simply.

Harry stared after her for a moment before shrugging and making his way back where he had come.

\-------

A few hours later, Harry found himself sitting at a secluded table deep in the library, right next to his crush.

Harry was surprised at how much he learned from her, and how easily it came to him. A half-hour after they started, they had already improved his Charms and Transfiguration much more than he had in class.

"What's next..." she trailed off, searching through her books.

"What about Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Harry asked. He knew he had gotten an O on his OWL for it, but he was interested in (Y/n)'s views on it. 

Her cheeks flared bright red. "No, I won't be much help with it. It was the one subject I got an E on my OWL for."

"Really?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what you did wrong?"

"Yeah, I didn't know what's required to cast a Patronus Charm. I know what it's used for, but I can't remember how you need to cast it," she explained, embarrassed.

"Oh, you need to think of your happiest memory and focus on it. It's to repel away the fear and darkness that the Dementor itself is," Harry explained as if it was second nature.

(Y/n) looked at him incredulously. "How do you know that?"

Harry shrugged. "Professor Lupin taught me how to cast it in third year because of the Dementors at the school, and I taught it to the D.A. last year."

"Impressive."

Harry's cheeks flushed red, matching (Y/n)'s own. "Thanks. I could teach it to you, if you want?"

(Y/n)'s head snapped to face him, excitement on her face. "Really?"

Harry nodded, smiling. "Of course. We can start right now."

She hopped up, the books flying into her bag with a flick of her wand, before she grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him with her out of the library and through the halls. She took him to a classroom she knew to always be empty at this time, shutting and locking the door behind her.

"Okay, what do I do?"

Harry looked at her. She had excited eagerness on her face.

"Say the spell first."

"Expect Patronum," she spoke clearly.

"Well, you're one of the first to pronounce it correctly on the first try," Harry smiled. She beamed at him.

He showed her the hand movement, and she got it on her third attempt.

"Now, what do I have to do to cast it?"

"Think of your happiest memory. The happiest memory you can think of," Harry explained. (Y/n) nodded and focused. 

"Now, cast the spell."

She took a deep breath and spoke, "Expecto Patronum."

A swirl of white mist came out, floated forward a meter and faded away into nothing.

She sighed and tried again. And again. And again.

"Are thinking of a happy memory?"

"I'm trying...."

"Try a different one."

"Okay."

After this happened over and over during the course of the next week, (Y/n) was tired of failure and Harry was confused. It had been the same thing every day. Why had nothing changed. He placed a hand on her shoulder as she panted from her last failed attempt.

"(Y/n), why don't we try again later. Let's go get some dinner and take a walk. You can try to think of a memory then and I'll tell you if it could be good enough."

She sighed and nodded, straightening up. "Fine."

They went to the Great Hall before separating and going to their different tables. He saw her go to the end of the Ravenclaw table quickly and sitting down, eating alone, seeming very disappointed in herself. Harry sighed and looked back to the Gryffindor table, locating his friends and going to sit next to them.

"Hey Harry," Hermione smiled as he sat down.

Ron nudged him in the side. "I saw you walking in with (Y/n), have you talked to her yet?"

"Yeah, I've been studying with her for a week. I'm trying to teach the Patronus Charm, but she can only produce mist. We're gonna go for a walk after dinner to clear her head. I don't think she can think of a happy enough memory, so she's gonna try to come up with one then."

Ron and Hermione stared at him in shock. "You've been hanging out with her every day for a week? How did this happen?" Ron demanded.

Harry explained the Slytherin situation and it seemed to clear a bit up.

After dinner, Harry met (Y/n) outside of the Great Hall and led her through the courtyard, across the bridge, and onto the grounds. As the moonlight danced across the ground, weaving about with the clouds above, Harry walked with her along the edge of the water.

"Do you have any ideas for your happy memory?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know," she admitted.

"Okay, well think about something with your friends. That always works for me," Harry explained.

"The closest I have to friends are you and Hermione. She studies with me a lot, but I don't have a super happy memory with her that would work," you replied.

"Alright, then think of a memory with your family. There's bound at least one good memory with them."

Harry glanced at (Y/n), and even in the shifting moonlight, he could see the tears that sprang up and glistened in her (e/c) eyes.

"I.... never knew my parents. They were killed when I was a year old. I was dropped off at an orphanage in London and grew up there. None of the kids really liked me, so I've never really had any friends or anyone to call family. I..... just love books so much because I feel like the characters are the closest I've ever had to not being alone. They don't give the kind of happiest memory I need, though."

She turned to stare at Harry, (e/c) orbs meeting emerald green. "I don't think I can actually cast a Patronus, Harry. I don't have a memory happy enough to do it."

"We'll think of something," Harry assured her.

"I hope so."

They walked a few more minutes before (Y/n) spoke again.

"You know, this past week has been one of the happiest in my life. I feel like I actually have a friend now," she explained.

Harry flushed red at her words. "I feel the same. I've really enjoyed hanging out with you, (Y/n)."

They reached the top of a hill, perfect view of the castle, the lake below. The clouds moved away, flooding them in moonlight. Harry could see (Y/n) perfectly. Her (e/c) eyes sparkled in the new light, her (h/c) hair shined, her (s/c) skin glowed. Looking at her, Harry had a sudden feeling in his heart that he couldn't help but act upon.

"Harry? Are you okay?" she asked.

Harry responded by suddenly leaning in and locking his lips with hers. She seemed shocked for a moment before she relaxed and leaned into it more. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled her in closer and they stood locked together for a few beautiful moments before separating.

They both looked at one another, Harry grinning and (Y/n) giggled as they gazed into each other's eyes.

Harry picked her up and twirled her around, causing a laugh to come from both . As he set her down, (Y/n) stood up on her toes to peck him on the lips quickly. As she released him, Harry took her hand as they stared into the other's eyes.

"(Y/n)," Harry began.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

(Y/n) stared at him in shock for a moment, her cheeks flared up, covering her face in red.

"I love you too."

Harry walked her back to her common room as they had been out too late to train again.

(Y/n) kissed him goodnight and promised to meet him outside the Great Hall in the morning.

Harry went back to Gryffindor Tower and went straight to bed, refusing to answer any of Ron's questions.

\------

The whole school's eyes were turned to the door of the Great Hall as Harry Potter walked in with the quiet, smart, Ravenclaw girl called (Y/n) (L/n) that most people hadn't even ever heard talk once. There were murmurs as the two walked in hand-in-hand, and not a single sound when, as they went to go their separate ways, (Y/n) pecked Harry on the cheek before they went to their respective tables. The moment they each sat down, the conversation picked up.

(Y/n) sat at the same place as normal, at the end of the table. The rest of the Ravenclaw's looked at her warily, not wanting to leave their seats. However, one other lonely girl from the table moved down and began talking to her. And (Y/n) made friends with Luna Lovegood.

Harry smiled as he saw how (Y/n) seemed so happy to talk with Luna.

He turned back to Ron and Hermione and sighed as they looked so ready with questions.

\------

That night, Harry and (Y/n) were in the training room again.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

She took a deep breath. "Expecto Patronum!"

There was a bright light suddenly, and a shape burst out from (Y/n)'s wand. Harry opened his eyes to see a beautiful silver doe soaring around the room.

(Y/n) stared at it in wonder, the silver light dancing in her (e/c) eyes.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

As the doe faded, Harry asked, "What memory did you use that time?"

"Last night, on the hill, with the moonlight above."

Harry smiled. "Really?"

The corners of her lips moved up.

"It's my happiest memory."


End file.
